I might have a wonderful vantage point From The Stands of Bankwest Stadium, but that loss to the Dragons was a tough game to watch.
But let’s be very clear about one thing – the sky is not falling in.
The Eels are 4-1 after 5 rounds. After those five rounds they have the blueprint for what works and what does not. It is up to the players to decide what type of team they want to be.
I thought seriously about unloading on the team and the referee after our loss to the Dragons but I don’ t see what good that will do. Instead I am going to write about what I need to see in my team this week – and that just happens to be everything I did not see against the Dragons.
As part of my preparation for this post, I looked back in the archives at my From The Stands post from Round 6 of 2018. Coincidentally the Eels were playing the Raiders in Canberra. By Round 6 in 2018 the Eels were winless and remained so after being beaten by the Raiders by 18-2.
Back in 2018, I wrote about knowing and executing your role. Over the past couple of years, the Eels have improved this aspect of their game. At the very least they have become much more disciplined.
Fast forward to 2021, what are the important roles that must be executed against the Raiders?
The Eels must bring the energy and maintain it across the game. That applies to every player.
Moving on to specific responsibilities, the Raiders will have first grade quality starting props on the bench. If Parra doesn’t win the middle it won’t matter how any of their backs play. The Eels simply won’t win the match.
Parra Papa
Marata is a vital part of Parra’s middle rotation. When Papali’i is used to fill in for Matterson, the Eels cannot afford to play Marata in the centres, not against a good pack.
The strength of the Eels team is found in the middle forwards, and this strength should be utilised, not weakened.
The Dragons showed the blueprint to beat the current bench rotation of the Eels.
Early in the game they slowed the ruck even if it meant giving away set re-starts. This took Junior and RCG out of the game.
Parramatta cannot control how the referee will adjudicate the ruck. They therefore need to have a way to counter this tactic should other teams adopt it.
Should Marata return to the bench?
Having just one prop and two genuine second rowers on the bench does not provide any options to turn momentum should the opposition legally or illegally neutralize Parra’s two starting props. So can we really afford to take our current bench down to the nation’s capital?
The Eels long kicking game is next on my to do list. It must be much better.
Mid field bombs without chasers are completely pointless. The Eels need to turn around the big Raiders forwards and place them under fatigue. Conversely, when Parra are under the pump, as they will be against a good Raiders team, they need to play the long game without looking for the miracle escape.
It should not be the backrowers putting in attacking kicks. I can’t imagine it has ever been in BA’s game plan to have backrowers take over the team’s short kicking game in the red zone.
Step back inside Sivo
The Eels outside men also have an important role. They do not have to score a try every time they get the ball. The Raiders scramble well and when defending their line, the Green Machine’s cover defence often gets there in numbers to push attackers into touch.
Keeping the ball in play against the Raiders when in the attacking end is crucial. Stepping back on the inside to avoid going over the sideline is something Parra’s wingers must do, but so far this year there have been too many occasions when they’ve gone for the miracle try in the corner.
Top teams such as the Roosters, the Panthers and the Storm have wingers who step back inside as much as they aim for the corner. They respect possession and don’t give it up easily.
Possession is king, and therefore set completions must be a priority. The Eels cannot expect to score quick or easy tries against the Raiders. They must catch the opposition kicks, clean up any loose ball, hold the ball when in a three man tackle and find offloads that don’t place the receiver under pressure.
Miracle offloads will not work against the Raiders. This game will be won and lost by possession and field position. It is entirely up to the Eels to determine how this game unfolds.
Next on the agenda is how the Eels respond to match officials.
It is no secret that the standard of officiating in the NRL is sub standard. Forget any belief that certain referees are biased against our Eels – it is not the case. They simply are not very good.
NSW Cup games are a pathway for referees as much as they are for players. Sadly the referees at this level are struggling.
The NSW Cup officiating on Sunday left much to be desired. It was inconsistent, and discretionary calls were confusing. As an example, the Eels were penalised multiple times for tackling the kicker. The tackles were clearly not late, not dangerous, not in the air and not attacking the legs. It was as if referee just didn’t like the kicker being tackled, even when the tackles complied with the rules.
Given that little looks to be changing in the standard of refereeing, every team, not just the Eels, must be good enough to overcome poor decisions and their understandable frustrations.
Mr Atkins and Mr Perenara dished up exactly what I expected. No doubt BA and his staff weren’t surprised either. Therefore, I want my team to be able to deal with it because from what I’ve seen, there’s no change on the horizon.
What I’m seeking from the Eels in their clash with the Raiders is nothing more than what we should see in the foundations of a good team. As such, there needs to be accountability amongst the players.
Good teams can have bad games but consistently poor efforts and execution actually stops a team from being able to play as they should.
The Eels play a game that is all about momentum and field position. That is the way the team has been put together. They need to return to that game.
What am I actually expecting this week?
I have no doubt that Parra’s forwards will come out and start well. The pack is a major strength of the team and they will be embarrassed with what happened against the Dragons.
But I do doubt the ability our some of our outside backs to do their job. Their job is to catch the ball, mark up in defence and stay away from the sideline in attack. It really is that simple and it’s what they get paid to do.
I am concerned about the mistakes I saw from our outside backs, the same mistakes I saw against the Tigers and the Sharks. We won those games and that probably papered over those errors.
You become what you accept and I am over accepting our wingers dropping the ball, going over the sideline and not marking up in defence.
When Fergo deliberately put his hand over the touchline to try to scam a penalty we almost got up and left. Parra had the ball 20 metres out from the Dragons line and needed to hold it to have any chance to win.
Fergo tried the miracle play by trying to cheat the rules. He took an unnecessary risk and it cost the team big time. As our most experienced player he should be calling out any short cuts. Instead he became the poster boy for attempting quick fixes.
I don’t care how experienced you are or how much money you get paid. If you cannot do the fundamentals of your job in the team then someone else needs to be given a chance to do it.
This year, the Eels team will become what the players and BA accepts. I can accept a bad game, I can accept some bad decision making. But repeated fundamental errors that stop our momentum or continually let the opposition off the hook game after game cannot be accepted by anyone – not by fans, not by the coaches.
Despite my concerns, my family and I are going to Canberra to cheer on our team. This will be our first trip to the nation’s capital in over a decade. We’ll back the Eels and look forward to them bouncing back.
It will be a hard road trip but I expect a better performance and I am confident we will get just that.
Shelley
As usual Shelley a well thought through and VT assesment of the game, which includes our players the opposition and the other two involved in both the NRL game and the earlier one.
You use the word expect a lot, & I for one agree with every one of them, and for me, I would think that every player would expect to put in their best efforts for at least 80minutes unless off the bench. On that point I would add another Expectation and that is that the selected bench should be completely used, that is the 4 players selected there and play at least enough time to add to the team. What point the 5 odd minutes when the game has been lost, we need them when the game is there to be won, at least that is what they/we should expect.
I like having a bench player who can cover the backs/ Reed and they therefore may not play big minutes but having two genuine 2nd rowers on the bench is not okay. I really like BA and know we have spots that need filling in the 30 man roster and that is not his responsibility but Marata can not stay centre, we need him as part of the rotation and in the long term Fergo/ Blake don’t work so we need another centre option to allow us to cover injuries and or make changes.
BullsEye 🎯
The refs certainly play a big part in most games, St George came out with a game plan to slow every play the ball down , lay across the tackled player and basically dare the ref to penalise them consistently. Atkins as the son of a former Eels, appears to go out of his way to ensure he is not seen as biased and refs that way.
Add that Perenara who also struggles with a club that cut him, and the absolutely terrible decisions that show no feel for the game ( that’s the reason he is no longer an onfield ref) and we ended the half dazed and confused.
Looks like the ref advisor actually told Atkins that he was there to police the game properly and the second half was almost normal. The mind numbing decision to move away from going at the middle to create space when Simms was binned lies at the feet of Gutho and Moses as senior players, and possibly at the runner who should have yelled instructions. I believe that was Murphy and not a fan of his.
To cap off the misery of an awful game, the decision to take the try away from Gutho for the so called interference was the turning point of a game we probably would have lost , but the miss of yet another forward pass in the last try asks the question what the heck are the touchies there for.
Then we see that the judiciary are about to suspend Dylan for something so innocuous that Fuimaono didn’t even hold his neck and there were worse crushers that were ignored both onfield like Browns and then by the MRC.
Refereeing standards are at an all time low, and having endured an even worse display at a junior rep game on Saturday, it needs to be addressed.
I could have written only about the referee but for our poor effort. Even with Marata, Papali’i and Matto back in our pack we would have struggled with Atkins allowing the Dragons to lay all over us. Griffin has realised that he can only win by slowing the play the ball they gave away 10-0 against the Knights the previous week. It will blow up in Griffins face. When they play the Roosters on Anzac Day there will be an outcry, lead by Gus on 9 about them doing it and a crackdown on the deliberate set restarts will happen.
Can anyone give information on the Jersey Flegg please.
I have looked everywhere and can not find how the boys went on the weekend..!
Just want to know how they have been going and who is playing well
Thank you in advance..
Yep we watched the game, sorry I don’t remember the final score but they won with a good gap and played well. They looked smaller and younger but they played over the Roosters. From memory the centre defended well and the 12 Charbel was really good in attack and defence, he looked fit and in my view a step above all others on the field.
Well written Shelley, cannot add anything else tot this.
Our attitude and execution was avg and for me some errors were poor, and from experienced players! This is what hurts as we have so many good players but the same errors come back again……this for me says we may not be a top 4 team, and the play when they had 12 men, i assumed we may have played more up tempo but it was not there in my view.
I think we will end up Top 4 but only if we find a solution for our outside backs. We need a capable centre as back up and in my view Fergo needs to be dropped. He is not trustworthy anymore. He joked last week that he had memory of a fish. All the journalist laughed, I shook my head. I believe him about his memory because he constantly forgets that he needs to mark up and defend his opposition winger. My view is Fergo is playing selfish at the moment, he is playing for the sensational tries in the corner to get himself a new contract elsewhere. He does not seem to care about the times in between the tries that he turns over possession trying to get the miracle. He is not using his experience, he is making basic errors each game so what does he really offer over Haze? Nothing and Haze is our future. If BA partners Blake and Fergo back up when Blake returns I really think it could spell disaster for the team prospects and put enormous pressure on BA. I know I would not put my teams fate or my future in Fergo hands, he will most certainly drop it.
At a minimum Marata or Papali’i must be part of the bench rotation. Personally if Matto is out for an extended period I would go Marata to second row and Papali’i on the bench. But either could work well.
Memory like a fish, is classic and shows where he’s at. If fish had memories, how come they get hooked and eaten often by unprofessional fishermen?
Good points Shelley; bench out of shape and underutilized, mistakes and setting or accepting lower stds. Unfortunately, BA is likely to stick with the same format…
Eels avoided losing 2 games on the trott last (until the finals) but have patchy form and a poor record in CBR, nervous about this one
Is Oldfield likely to come back and take Marata’s spot in the centre, allow him to back into the forward rotation? We’ll need that extra punch on the bench
Oldfield was solid in the reserves last week and would not embarrass in the NRL team. We absolutely require 4 forwards on our bench. With Marata back in the forwards it gives us a good bench. Assuming Matto is back I would have Papalii, Lane, Hipgrave, Stone as the bench. Just an opinion for what it’s worth.
Sorry forgot Kaufusi. In for Stone or Hipgrave
Well said Shelley. Regardless of how they achieved it, the mental attitude of the Dragons produced that win. We reverted to some poor habits while they stuck to a plan.
Hi Shelley, great article, you’ve hit the nail on the head.
It was hard to watch on Sunday, especially considering how well the boys have been playing. The Dragons pack rattled our boys early and there was no real response from our pack to take the momentum back. Off the back of that, when we finally had opportunities in the second half, they just failed to show the composure they’ve showed in every other game this season. It’s been widely noted that our lack of patience and poor decision making has been the cornerstone of our poor attack for a while now, but they’d seemed to find that patience this season. It was disappointing to see the boys fall back into the panic mode that is all too familiar for us as fans. Hopefully they can find that patience again on Saturday, stick to their roles as you mentioned and do the little things right.
I’ll be there on Saturday night with my family also, I moved down to Canberra last year and it’s our first time at Bruce Stadium. Be sure to rug up, it’s gonna be a cold one. Hopefully the boys turn up the heat and bring home a win.